Potter gives his art a prehistoric touch

Human-size vases, giant bells, umbrella stands, lamps, and gourmet cookware have been among David Greenbaum's clay creations over his 40 years as potter.

Jessica Cohen

Human-size vases, giant bells, umbrella stands, lamps, and gourmet cookware have been among David Greenbaum's clay creations over his 40 years as potter.

Last year, after he and attorney Bob Levine closed their festive joint venture, Bluestone Gallery in Milford, Pa., Greenbaum and his artist wife, Joann, opened their own business, Bluestone Pottery, around the corner on Broad Street.

Joann displays her paintings there, and Greenbaum has a studio at the back of the shop, with kiln and potter's wheel, where he throws pots between greeting customers and schmoozing with artists from galleries down the block.

On Saturday, as few creatures stirred after the storm, Greenbaum talked about his pots and pottery history.

"The clientele base isn't huge, so I'm always pursuing new directions," he said. "Though I'm focused on stylization, with more attention to art pottery."

He pointed to a shapely pot with subtle ornamentation, which he said came not from a glaze but from hand carving with a guitar string and an ancient technique of burnishing with polished stone.

"At a microscopic level, it aligns clay particles like fish scales, creating a glossy reflective surface," Greenbaum said. "The method predates glaze. Prehistoric people used it to create a surface for cooking. It creates a sanitary, sealed surface, easily cleaned. The surface is part of the pot rather than applied veneer."

While he exhibits in shows around the country, a recent utilitarian effort has been pots with matte glazes for baking.

"You soak the pot in water for 10 minutes. It absorbs the moisture that's slowly released as steam into food. The nutrients are left intact," he said.

What can you cook that way? Chicken, fish and vegetables, he said.

He has been a vegetarian since college, even as a competitive athlete.

"It was the hip thing to do," he said. "All the girls were vegetarian."

The idea for his big Shohola bells emerged eight years ago. They required engineering as well as artistic expertise.

"They had to be durable and receptive to wind and accommodate freezing and thawing, and look and sound good," says Greenbaum. Accomplishing that took him two years.

How does he handle a failed experiment?

"I've screwed up pots in more ways than you can imagine," he says.

How does he handle big failures?

"Once I broke two knuckles hitting a wall. As a young man, I was more of a hothead," Greenbaum said. "But now, when things go amiss, I roll with it. I hadn't developed coping skills then."